Meet the SuperNova Award Judges - Future of Work

Part III of our "Meet the SuperNova Award Judges" series. Today we meet the Future of Work judges. This group is comprised of the thought leaders and journalists that are revolutionizing the way we think and converse about the concept of "work". 

The SuperNova Award Judges are are an elite group of thought leaders and journalists hand-selected for their futurist mindset and keen ability to separate substance from hype. Right now they're hard at work evaluating the SuperNova Award applications against a rigorous set of criteria to identify the applicants worthy of advancement to the finalist round. 

FUTURE OF WORK

Holger Mueller (@holgermu)
Vice President and Principal Analyst
Constellation Research, Inc.

Holger Mueller is Vice President and Principal Analyst at Constellation focusing on HR technology and all-things-cloud. Previously Holger was VP of Products for NorthgateArinso, a KKR company. There he lead the transformation of products to the cloud and laid the foundation for new Business Process as a service (BPaaS) capabilities. 

Alan Lepofsky (@alanlepo)
Vice President & Principal Analyst
Constellation Research

Alan is Vice President and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research, Inc. focusing on enterprise collaboration software. Alan's Big Ideas include, "Purposeful Collaboration" and a unique audience segmentation pattern that relies on digital proficiency; not age. Prior to joining Constellation, Alan spent 3 years as Director of Marketing at Socialtext and before that, 14 years in a variety of roles at IBM/Lotus. He's an active blogger and speaker in the "Enterprise 2.0/Social Business" community, where he shares his thoughts on the business benefits of open communication and collaboration.

Dr. Janice Presser (@drjanice)
CEO and Co-founder
The Gabriel Institute

Janice Presser is a behavioral scientist and the architect of Teamability® – a new technology that measures how people will perform in teams. She has been engaged in the research and development of talent science for over 25 years and is a recognized thought leader in qualitative assessment and human infrastructure management methods. Dr. Presser has served on SHRM's Human Capital Assessment/Metrics Special Expertise Panel, the Taskforce on Workforce Planning, and the Taskforce on Metrics and Measurements. She is Contributing Editor for Selection in ELLA®, Employment Labor Law Audit. She blogs for Constellation Orbits. 

Terri Griffith (@terrigriffith)
Professor, Santa Clara University
Thought Leader, Constellation Orbits

Prof. Terri Griffith, Ph.D., is Chair of the Management Department at Santa Clara University. She is an expert on how to make and then implement combined technology and organization decisions. Some of these ideas are outlined in her award-winning book, The Plugged-In Manager: Get in Tune with Your People, Technology, and Organization to Thrive. Dr. Griffith is one of the 100 honored members of the 2012 Silicon Valley Women of Influence. She is a regular contributor to Constellation Orbits. 
 

Paul van Essche (@paul_vanessche)
Independent Analyst
van Essche & Associates

Paul van Essche is the founder/owner of the independent management and tech consulting firm van Essche & Associates specializing in Change Management. He has successfully effected radical change in some of the most resistant business environments. van Essche is a regular contributor toConstellation Orbits.
 

Mark Fontecchio
News and Site Editor
SearchOracle.com, SearchSQLServer.com - TechTarget

Mark Fontecchio is responsible for overseeing the operation of both SearchOracle.com and SearchSQLServer.com, as well as writing and editing technical content. Previously at TechTarget, he was a reporter for SearchDataCenter.com, covering enterprise server and data center issues. Before TechTarget, he was a reporter and editor for various daily and weekly newspapers in suburban Boston.
 

Steve Boese (@SteveBoese)
Co-Chair HR Technology Conference
Editor, Human Resource Executive

Steve Boese is a leading thought leader in HR-focused technology strategies. He is Co-Chair of the HR Technology Conference, the world's largest gathering of the global HR Technology community, and a writer/editor for Human Resource Executive magazine. Steve also created and hosts the HR Happy Hour show on Blog Talk Radio.

Agency Lead

Special thanks to our Future of Work agency lead, Grace Angulo!

Grace Angulo - Agency Lead (@gtangulo_AR)
Manager, Analyst Relations
Edelman

Previous posts: 
Meet the Technology Optimization Judges
Meet the Next Generation Customer Experience Judges

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Future of Work Innovation & Product-led Growth AR Executive Events Chief People Officer

It’s Gruen for Innovation – That Startup Show

Gavin Heaton

Founder
Disruptors Co

Gavin is the Founder of Disruptors Co, one of Australia’s leading independent strategy and innovation companies. Gavin advises firms on strategy, marketing, product development and innovation. He is also a member of the Orbits program, the influencer network of  award winning analyst and advisory firm, Constellation Research. Gavin advises boards and leadership on innovation strategy, marketing, data-driven product development and corporate venturing. Gavin is on the board of Vibewire, a youth-led social enterprise based in Sydney, Australia and on the Technology Advisory Group for Good2Give – the workplace giving platform. ...

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These are some of the first topics addressed by the new “entertainment startup” web-cast show, That Startup Show. Hosted by Dan Ilic and streamed live, the show takes a leaf out of ABC’s The Gruen Transfer – a smart, funny and insightful panel drilling into focused topics interspersed with clips and live pitch sessions.

Panelists Bronwen Clune, Alan Noble and Sebastien Eckersley-Maslin, provide an industry perspective and Dan Ilic does a great job of keeping the conversation flowing. They take live tweet questions from the crowd and cover a vast range of topics in a very short time.

This first episode marks an important innovation in the development of the Australian startup ecosystem. It’s “StartupAus” beginning to tell its own stories at scale. And that can only be a good thing. Looking forward to Episode 2.

New C-Suite Marketing Transformation Chief Executive Officer Chief Marketing Officer Chief Digital Officer

Meet the SuperNova Award Judges - Next Gen Customer Experience

Part II of our "Meet the SuperNova Award Judges" series. Take a break and learn a little bit about the group of customer experience thought leaders and journalists that are judging this year's SuperNova Awards. If you want the scoop on all things customer, highly suggest following these folks on Twitter!

The SuperNova Award Judges are are an elite group of thought leaders and journalists hand-selected for their futurist mindset and keen ability to separate substance from hype. Right now they're hard at work evaluating the SuperNova Award applications against a rigorous set of criteria to identify the applicants worthy of advancement to the finalist round. 

SuperNova Award Judges - Next Generation Customer Experience

Dr. Natalie Petouhoff (@drnatalie)
Vice President and Principal Analyst
Constellation Research

Natalie Petouhoff is Vice President and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research focusing on the integration of traditional business strategy and operations with social and digital business transformation. Petouhoff works with Fortune 100 and 500’s Senior Leadership teams to create strategic marketing and customer experience solutions which engage customers, build brands and grow businesses.  Previously Petouhoff held positions as a Forrester Analyst, Chief Strategist for Weber Shandwick PR/Marketing Agency, Management Consultant at PWC, Hitachi and management at GE, GM and Hughes Electronics.

Paul Greenberg (@pgreenbe)
Board of Advisors (Constellation Research, Inc.) & President
The 56 Group, LLC

In addition to being the author of the best-selling CRM at the Speed of Light: Essential Customer Strategies for the 21st Century, Paul Greenberg is President of The 56 Group, LLC, an enterprise applications consulting services firm, focused on CRM strategic services including go-to-market strategies for vendors and integrators, CRM strategic planning and vendor selection. The 56 Group also provides writing, speaking and educational services.  Paul has years of experience with both CRM and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). He has built SAP and People Soft practices and, has extremely deep ties into the CRM and enterprise applications communities.

 

Marshall Lager (@lager)
Managing Principal
Third Idea Consulting, LLC

Marshall Lager is the founder and managing principal of Third Idea Consulting, a firm founded to provide advice on the confluence of customer relationship management (CRM), social media, and brand management. Marshall is a former Senior Editor at CRM Media, where he wrote news, blogs, and feature articles on the above topics for CRM magazine and its website, destinationCRM.com.
 

Brent Leary (@BrentLeary)
Co-Founder and Partner
CRM Essentials

Brent Leary is a crm industry analyst, advisor, author, speaker and award winning blogger. He is co-founder and Partner of CRM Essentials LLC, an Atlanta based CRM advisory firm covering tools and strategies for improving business relationships. In 2009 he co-authored Barack 2.0: Social Media Lessons for Small Business. Recognized by InsideCRM as one of the 25 most influential industry leaders, Leary also is a past recipient of CRM Magazine's Most Influential Leader Award.  He blogs at BrentLeary.com.

 

David Myron
Editorial Director
CRM and Speech Technology Magazines

A multiple-award-winning writer and editor, David brings more than a decade of business and technology writing experience to CRM and Speech Technology magazines and their associated products. His articles have appeared in magazines from leading media publishers, including CMP Media, Forbes, Freedom Communications, Primedia, and Ziff Davis.

Previous post: Meet the Technology Optimization Judges

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Next-Generation Customer Experience Innovation & Product-led Growth AR Executive Events Chief Customer Officer

BYOD, or really BYOP – Bring Your Own Plan

Brian Katz

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Brian Katz is a director at pharmaceutical company Sanofi, where he manages mobile initiatives, including mobilizing the salesforce, building best practices for developing apps, handling BYOD initiatives, enabling new devices and form factors for success, and looking at ways to innovate in the mobile space for Sanofi. He started his career working with a multi-national New York financial company as an email architect, designing and maintaining their email and communications systems, which also involved supporting their mobile computing platforms. ...

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I read an article today on BYOD (Bring your own device) and how the whole concept could be in trouble. It’s nothing new to see BYOD being seen as the next big thing or for it to be fading away depending on whom you’re talking to. In this case the post was pointing out a case in California where the courts had ruled that if a person has to use a cellphone for work, even if they paid for the phone, the company was responsible for part of the bill. This, according to the article, would signal the end of BYOD as companies didn’t want the hassle of being forced to pay for part of people’s phone bills. It took no more than 5 minutes to find another article talking about how BYOD was getting even bigger as companies were reaping big gains by allowing millennials to use their own devices, even though they were experiencing growing pains.

The inherent problem with all of these articles on BYOD (it also applies to IoT, Cloud, throw a technology in here) is that the conclusions aren’t based on facts. They are assuming causality due to correlation and yet they don’t link the premise to the result. This is just a bad approach and no amount of writing and analysis can connect the dots together where they don’t belong.

It’s not very difficult for companies that have the right circumstances to succeed in implementing a BYOD program. Wait, you’re saying, “I see what you did there Brian, you’ve already put conditions on the results.” Well, yes I am. Like any program, whether it be BYOD, or moving to the cloud etc, you have to understand the conditions and restraints before acting. It’s hard for an international company to implement a BYOD program. There are privacy and ownership rules that exist in Europe that makes it difficult. In some places devices that meet the requirements may not be available to the locals there. You have to understand these restraints and others like regulatory or legal issues that come along with any mobile program.

The key to implementing a successful BYOD program is all planning. You can’t just tell your workers to go out and buy whatever device they want and expect them to be able to hook up to your network and be productive. You start by creating a mobile program. BYOD, as I have pointed out before, is an ownership issue, nothing more. It is part of your mobile program; it is not the mobile program. When you start a mobile program, you build policies in that program. Those policies are the cornerstone to implementing a successful mobile initiative. You tell your employees what you want them to do with the device as well as what they shouldn’t be doing. You lay out whether they will buy the device or whether it will be a corporate owned device. You explain to them how the billing for the mobile plan will work. You may completely reimburse the entire bill or you may only pay part of it but your employees understand from the get go what is expected. You also give them guidelines so that they understand what devices are safe to use and will give them the best access versus those that might only get email, calendaring and contacts.

You run these plans by your legal and HR teams. In the case of BYOD and reimbursement, you will find out quickly what the legal ramifications may be. In California, you are definitely going to have to pay some of the bills if they have to use their own device for work. You may also find that a full plan reimbursement has consequences for the user. They may owe taxes as you are also paying for their personal calls and data use. Companies have started charging back a small fee for voice and data use (~$20) to the user and then the employee no longer has the tax liabilities.

As you have laid out how to best choose a great device for BYOD, you have shorn up your internal WiFi to handle the more devices that will be in the office. You have also built secure apps that enable your employees and provided an app store for them to download the apps from. You may have set up a virtual desktop infrastructure or app streaming capability so some data never resides on the device or so users can access legacy applications that haven’t been converted to mobile apps yet.

Deploying any mobile program requires planning. A single court ruling or advice from an analyst isn’t enough to derail a well-planned deployment. Mobile isn’t giving out devices and expecting your employees to start being more agile and flexible. Mobile is planning to enable your workers through a well-planned strategy that meets their needs when and where they are required. It’s devising a strategy that is robust and well thought out, where the users are part of putting the strategy together. It addresses the ownership of the device, the apps and the data, and in the end helps people get their work done. When knowledge is easy to access at the right time and place, people become more flexible and agile, more efficient and productive, and just happier. That’s when BYOD, Mobile, Cloud, IoT succeed. They become part of a well-planned seamless experience.

New C-Suite Data to Decisions Innovation & Product-led Growth Revenue & Growth Effectiveness Future of Work Tech Optimization Leadership ML Machine Learning LLMs Agentic AI Generative AI Robotics AI Analytics Automation B2B B2C CX EX Employee Experience HR HCM business Marketing Metaverse developer SaaS PaaS IaaS Supply Chain Quantum Computing Growth Cloud Digital Transformation Disruptive Technology eCommerce Enterprise IT Enterprise Acceleration Enterprise Software Next Gen Apps IoT Blockchain CRM ERP finance Social Healthcare VR CCaaS UCaaS Customer Service Content Management Collaboration M&A Enterprise Service Chief People Officer Chief Information Officer Chief Digital Officer Chief Executive Officer Chief Technology Officer Chief Data Officer Chief Analytics Officer Chief Financial Officer Chief Operating Officer Chief Marketing Officer Chief Revenue Officer

Influence: Be the First to Give

Gavin Heaton

Founder
Disruptors Co

Gavin is the Founder of Disruptors Co, one of Australia’s leading independent strategy and innovation companies. Gavin advises firms on strategy, marketing, product development and innovation. He is also a member of the Orbits program, the influencer network of  award winning analyst and advisory firm, Constellation Research. Gavin advises boards and leadership on innovation strategy, marketing, data-driven product development and corporate venturing. Gavin is on the board of Vibewire, a youth-led social enterprise based in Sydney, Australia and on the Technology Advisory Group for Good2Give – the workplace giving platform. ...

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Robert Cialdini’s book on Influence is a must-read for marketers. His six principles of influence work together to connect intention and action and are vital to the success of any marketing activity. However, in digital and social marketing, the focus tends to rely on just two elements – social proof and liking. It’s partly why we often feel marketers and brands are “yelling” at us online. There is a simple antidote to this:

Be the first to give.

In this infographic from Everreach, summarising the six principles, they call out that proactive use of reciprocity as a “weapon of influence”. Working this way creates a faster and more immediate bond between brands and their customers. More importantly, it sets the scene for the remaining elements. So, next time – before you ask someone to buy, think about what it is that you can give.

Marketing Transformation Sales Marketing Next-Generation Customer Experience Innovation & Product-led Growth Data to Decisions Future of Work New C-Suite Digital Safety, Privacy & Cybersecurity Marketing B2B B2C CX Customer Experience EX Employee Experience AI ML Generative AI Analytics Automation Cloud Digital Transformation Disruptive Technology Growth eCommerce Enterprise Software Next Gen Apps Social Customer Service Content Management Collaboration Chief Marketing Officer Chief Digital Officer

Meet the SuperNova Award Judges - Technology Optimization

The SuperNova Award application deadline may have been last week, but that doesn't mean the SuperNova Award process is over. Behind the scenes the SuperNova Award Judges are hard at work evaluating the applications against a rigorous set of criteria to identify the applicants worthy of advancement to the finalist round. 

Let's meet these individuals who are taking time out of their busy schedules to evaluate the SuperNova Award applications, shall we? The SuperNova Award Judges are an elite group of thought leaders and journalists hand-selected for their futurist mindset and keen ability to separate substance from hype. 

SuperNova Award Judges - Technology Optimization

Andy Mulholland 
Vice President and Principal Analyst
Constellation Research

Andy Mulholland is Vice President and Principal Analyst focusing on cloud business models. Formerly the Global Chief Technology Officer for the Capgemini Group from 2001 to 2011, Mulholland successfully led the organization through a period of mass disruption. Mulholland brings this experience to Constellation’s clients seeking to understand how Digital Business models will be built and deployed in conjunction with existing IT systems.

Jon Reed (@jonerp)
Co-founder
Diginomica

Jon Reed has been involved in enterprise communities since 1995, including time spent building ERP recruiting and training firms. These days, Reed is a (cough) blogger/analyst and also counsels vendors and startups on go-to-market strategy. He is an SAP Mentor, Enterprise Irregular, and video content producer.

Ron MIller (@ron_miller)
Freelance Journalist
Enterprise Reporter, TechCrunch

Ron MIller is an award-winning freelance technology writer. His work currently appears in TechCrunch, CiteWorld, EContent Magazine, and SocMedia News. Recognition includes several Apex Awards for Publications Excellence in Feature Writing and the Churchill Award for Editorial Excellence at FierceContentManagement.
 

Mike Simons (@Itjournalist)
Editor-in-Chief
Computer World UK

Mike Simons is the Editor of Computer World UK and Techworld. He joined IDG in 2006 after almost a decade at Computer Weekly. An award winning IT and business journalist, Mike has a particularly focused on major IT projects and public sector IT.
 

Mila D'Antonio (@miladantonio)
Managing Editor 
1to1 Magazine

Mila D’Antonio is Managing Editor for 1to1 Magazine where she leads the editorial production. She also edits the Best Practices, On the Beat, and Expert Insight Industry Authority sections of the magazine. In addition, she edits the online contributed columns and exclusive content. She also moderates panels at customer events and industry conferences. Prior to joining 1ot1 Media, Mila had worked at a number of trade magazines and newspapers. 

Debra Lilley (@debralilley)
Board of Advisor (Constellation Research, Inc.)
Board Member (UK Oracle Users Group)

At Fujitsu, Debra is the Oracle Alliance Director where she is responsible for our relationship with Oracle and our Oracle Fusion Champion. She ensures that both Fujitsu and our customers are well briefed on current and future Oracle strategy. She is an Oracle ACE Director (Applications) and has spoken at over 100 events worldwide. She is Chairman of UK Oracle User Group and is also responsible for the Product Development Committees at the International Oracle User Community (IOUC).

Special thanks to our agency lead for the Technology Optimization & Innovation category, Kewal Varia. Kewal is responsible for managing the judging group and leading our agency efforts for the awards. 

Kewal Varia - Agency Lead (@kewalv)
Managing Director
Sparks Communications

Kewal Varia is managing director of Sparks Communications, a technology-focused PR firm located in the UK. Clients work with Kewal Varia because they like the mix of technical understanding,creativity and strategy that he brings to their campaigns. In a previous life, Kewal dabbled in freelance journalism

Tech Optimization Innovation & Product-led Growth AR Executive Events Chief Information Officer Chief Digital Officer

Roundup Of 3D Printing Market Forecasts And Estimates, 2014

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3D printing’s potential to revolutionize manufacturing is quickly becoming a reality.

From relatively simple make-to-stock to complex, engineer-to-order production strategies in aerospace, defense, discrete and industrial production, 3D printing technologies are redefining the manufacturing value chain.  Investors including venture capitalists, wealth management firms and nearly every market research firm covering high technology has published 3D printing forecasts or market estimates.

A summarized list of 3D printing market forecasts and estimates is provided below:

• Canalys predicts the global 3D printing market will grow from $2.5B in 2013 to $16.2B by 2018, attaining a CAGR of 45.7% in the forecast period. For additional information see 3D printing market to grow to US$16.2B in 2018. The following table compares 2013, 2014 and 2018 forecasts and relative market growth by 3D printers, services and materials.

• IBISWorld forecasts the U.S. market for 3D printer manufacturing in the U.S. will reach $1.4B in 2014, attaining a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 22.8% from 2009 to 2014.  The U.S. market will grow at a CAGR of 15.7% from 2014 to 2019.  IBISWorld’s report includes market shares, and shows 3D Systems Corporation with 19.5% followed by Stratasys with 18.4%. You can read the IBISWorld report, 3D Printer Manufacturing in the US, February 2014 here (free, no opt-in).

• IDC predicts that worldwide 3D printer unit sales and installed base will grow at a combined compound annual growth rate of 59% through 2017, with the value of shipments attaining a 27% CAGR in the forecast period.  IDC’s excellent presentation titled 3D Printing – A Transformative Opportunity for Print and Manufacturing written by Robert Parker and Keith Kmetz was part of the IDC Directions 2014 briefing sessions earlier this year.  The following slide from the presentation compares 3D printer market units, installed base and value of shipments. IDC also predicts the Average Selling Value will also drop at a -19% CAGR through 2017.

• The 3D Systems Investor and Analyst Day presentation given June 10, 2014 includes a series of market forecasts and estimates, including an in-depth overview of how 3D Systems is evaluating market opportunities for 3D printing in healthcare.  The following graphic is from the 3D Systems Investor and Analyst Day presentation available here:

• 3D printers will grow from a $288M market in 2012 to $5.7B in 2017, attaining an 81.9% CAGR in the forecast period according to research by Wells Fargo Wealth Management.  According to this firm’s compiled research, shipments of 3-D printers are expected to grow at a CAGR of 95% a year from 2012 to 2017 with revenue expected to grow at 82% in the same forecast period.  Well Fargo Wealth Management found that 3-D printing revenue is estimated to have achieved just 8% of its global market potential as of 2014, making the market opportunity worth $21–$28 billion by 2017.  Wells Fargo Wealth Management published the report Beyond 2014: Evolving Opportunities in Technology providing these insights and the following charts showing the growth of 3D printing shipments and revenue:

• Equity analysts’ forecasts for additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing range from $7B by 2020 on an 18% CAGR, to aggressive market scenarios reaching $21.3B by 2020 on a 34% CAGR.  Morgan Stanley’s forecast are among the most bullish there are.  Deloitte presented these figures at the 2014 Engineering & Construction Conference Bridging Innovation in the Industry Disruptive Technologies and their Impact on E&C. You can find the presentation here and a graphic below from the presentation comparing market forecasts.

• Gartner forecasts that 3D printer shipments will grow to 1.1M units by 2017 attaining a CAGR of 95%, and end user spending will grow to $5.7B, attaining a CAGR of 82% in the forecast period.  The presentation 3D Printing: The Hype, Reality and Opportunities – Today written by Pete Basiliere of Gartner is available on SlideShare.  A PDF of the presentation is available to Gartner clients here.

• The market for 3D printing products and services grew to $3.07B in 2013 attaining a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 34.9%, the highest in 17 years according to Wohlers Associates. According to industry expert Wohlers Associates the growth of worldwide revenues over the past 26 years has averaged 27%, with the CAGR for the past three years (2011–2013) reaching 32.3%.For additional information see the Wohlers Report 2014 Uncovers Annual Growth of 34.9% for 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing Industry. Wohlers Associates is one of the most knowledgeable firms tracking 3D printing, they have involved in this market for decades.

• 67% of manufacturers surveyed are currently implementing 3D printing either in full production or pilot and 25% intend to adopt 3D printing in the future. A study by Price Waterhouse Cooper (PwC) of 3D printing adoption in the global aerospace industry’s MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) parts market estimates $3.4B annual savings in material and transportation costs alone. PWC’s recent report published in June, 3D Printing and the New Shape of Industrial Manufacturing, provides a wealth of insights into the adoption of 3D printing in manufacturing. The following graphic from the report compares adoption rates by small and large firms.

• PwC predicts that within three to five years 3D printing technologies will be used for producing military, commerical and complex weapon parts and system components.  In the recent research note 3D Printing: A Potential Game Changer for Aerospace and Defense, PwC provided a 3D printing adoption map, which is shown below.  PwC observes that “as quality and speed continue to improve, 3D printing will become a viable process for an  ever-increasing number of applications, including traditional production parts. No one  knows how rapidly the technology will take to mature, but most experts believe it will  make significant strides within the next five years.”

New C-Suite Chief Digital Officer

Mobile first isn’t mobile only

Brian Katz

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Brian Katz is a director at pharmaceutical company Sanofi, where he manages mobile initiatives, including mobilizing the salesforce, building best practices for developing apps, handling BYOD initiatives, enabling new devices and form factors for success, and looking at ways to innovate in the mobile space for Sanofi. He started his career working with a multi-national New York financial company as an email architect, designing and maintaining their email and communications systems, which also involved supporting their mobile computing platforms. ...

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One of the people I follow has a favorite tweet. Basically it says the only way to win in the enterprise is to go mobile first and mobile only. It’s a great saying and many people agree it’s the right strategy, and yet, they take the phrase word for word and don’t understand why it never works. In a sense, mobile first and mobile only are at odds with each other. If you go mobile only why do you need to go mobile first, you are only catering to mobile devices, so who cares. Yet businesses don’t really understand the terms and end up in trouble anyway.

I am a huge fan of the mobile first mindset but only if it’s understood. The first rule of mobile first is that it doesn’t mean mobile only. Mobile first is, instead, a strategy that requires focusing on the users and what they are trying to do. It feeds into the FUN principle, focusing on the users’ needs, but goes beyond that into breaking it down to their needs at the right time. The core of any mobile first strategy is understanding the users and how they process information on a mobile device. It becomes very obvious, that when people are using their phone, they can only focus on the task at hand. Therefore, it’s not just focusing on their needs but breaking their needs up into bite-sized chunks. It’s similar to the joke about eating an elephant, you do it one bite at a time.

Let’s contrast a mobile first app with a traditional desktop application. A traditional desktop application is usually a process in itself. It consists of a hundred little tasks that you put together to finish the final product. It has a menu system with a myriad of choices and different ways of doing things. It is often monolithic and requires too many steps to get things done. A mobile app for the phone is much more focused. It consists of 2 or 3 things that the user needs to get the job done. Its menu system has far fewer choices and is focused on a particular outcome. This doesn’t make either approach wrong, but the desktop application won’t work well on the mobile device. Interestingly enough, the mobile app will work just fine on the desktop.

If mobile first doesn’t mean mobile only, then how does a mobile app move across the spectrum of devices that a person will use. This is where the magic comes in. If you start with focusing on the users’ needs, as you move from a phone to a tablet, the person may actually use them differently. They have more screen real estate; they may even use a stylus or a keyboard. The need that is being addressed when they use the tablet is slightly different from when they are using the phone. The important part is to be careful expanding the scope and making sure that the app stays focused, albeit that focus becomes slightly larger.

Think of it like using a camera, you can go with a single prime lens, it has only one focal length and it’s better for one type of photo. You change your lens as your need changes. As you get even better and want to use the camera for a wide range of activities, you may switch to a zoom lens. That way you can zero on the subject and catch just a photo of them, or you can zoom out and take a wide angle photo that includes the surroundings. This is the same way a mobile first strategy works. You start with the laser focus and you carry it back to each device, widening the angle somewhat as you go, but still staying focused.

The tablet app therefore then becomes a laptop or desktop app. There are more options and pieces to work with, but the focus is still the same, on the task at hand. Think of it this way, most people just want a word processor when they use Microsoft Word. They barely use 20% of the available features if they’re lucky. On the smartphone, they just want to get the text entered and be able to start new paragraphs. When they move to the tablet they may start to format the text a little and be a little fancier. When they go to the desktop, they may change it into a newsletter, a web page or something else. The focus should always be on getting the words done, you just have more options as you move to different devices.

This is why responsive design doesn’t work in this analogy. It’s not just showing a different size screen as you move between devices; it’s also taking into account what the devices are capable of, being used for. Responsive design, although a great concept for a web page, in its traditional definition doesn’t fit the mobile first strategy.

When you approach mobile as a mindset, based around the FUN principle, mobile first is the strategy for helping the user do what they need when they need it. It’s what allows people to be more agile and flexible, on any device, be it, smartphone or desktop, making them more productive and efficient. Mobile only doesn’t only mean mobile devices; it means a mobile only approach to the experiences on those devices, keeping them focused, even if the device doesn’t fit in your pocket or your backpack.

Measuring Customer Service Usage One More Time

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For the third year in a row, and consistently growing in responses and popularity, it is time to measure what’s been happening in Customer Service.

The survey, conducted by thinkJar and sponsored by KANA for the past three years, is a great way to showcase what’s going on in Customer Service, what has changed in the past 12 months, and – more importantly – what’s trending and in which direction.

With over 400 responses the last year (more than double the first year) and an expected increase of at least 100-120 more this year the survey is showing what customer service professionals are thinking and doing.

Last year’s effort showcased some interesting insights:

• Almost on one is still sure about what to do with communities – yet they all want to do it.
• Literally no one was working or deployed in omnichannel, and almost 2/3 of respondents were not even clear of their multi-channel strategy
• Social customer service was dropping dramatically in adoption, to the benefit of Chat (yes, chat – kid you not)
• The value of mobile and social for organizations is still not well understood – where more than one third of organizations see no value to the customer in deploying those channels.

The effort this year for me is twofold:

1. I want to confirm the findings from last year and see if the trends continue in adoption, usage, and positions that organizations are taking with their investments
2. I want to see what new insights can be gathered from more respondents and from an additional year of trending data

We are also trying something new this year.  We will release a report at the end of the analysis, but we will also release data in an ongoing basis.  Once we generate sufficient responses to showcase some interesting data (which I expect to be within 1-2 weeks) I will begin posting the data and the analysis in short snippets.  No longer you will have to wait to see the entire report or try to find interesting insights from it.

Expect to see anywhere from six to ten insights published these way every 2-3 weeks as data becomes available.

OK, enough peddling of the product – on to the survey.  Please take the survey here, advertise it everywhere you can, and help me get as many answers as possible so we have great data available.

Questions? Comments? Drop them below.

The survey is embedded below and also you can take it here if you prefer a full browser experience.

Disclaimer: KANA is a customer, has been for many years, and is sponsoring this survey exclusively – but they don’t have any control over the content, questions asked (they did collaborate on some questions, providing suggestions, but the final questionnaire is in line with out theses only) or even the results.  All data remains property of thinkJar and all content are ours.  KANA gets to enjoy the warm and fuzzy feelings of both having the results published under the name and knowing that they helped advanced the world of customer service.  Both very important, if you ask me.  I get to do more research with someone helping me pay the bills – and to keep my consciences clear that I still own the process, methodology, and content. Phew.   A big thank you to KANA for supporting this project for the past three years.

Next-Generation Customer Experience Data to Decisions Future of Work Innovation & Product-led Growth New C-Suite Sales Marketing Digital Safety, Privacy & Cybersecurity Chief Customer Officer

How Much Privacy Are We Willing to Risk For Mobile Connectivity?

Partner, Sensei Marketing
Partner, Sensei Marketing

Sales & marketing veteran with almost 30 years’ experience and now 1800 digital projects to his credit for clients including Morgan Stanley, AOL, Hyatt Gaming Management, Snyder's of Hanover, Hitachi, the Home Depot, Kraft Foods, Drees Homes, American Idol, and hundreds more, including leading agencies around the North America.     ...

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Almost a year ago, I called out the Facebook Messenger app on Android for having insidious permissions settings. Unless you've been living under a rock, which, in modern day terms means you don't have access to the Internet, you've seen the furor that was created when that post went viral these past few weeks. Last week Facebook made good on its promise to force users to download a separate app if they wanted to continue to IM their friends using its platform, which, I assume, is the reason that my year-old post gained so much traction.

Unfortunately, I inaccurately used "Terms of Service" when referencing Messenger's permission settings on Android devices and that sent the resulting massive world-wide debate on a tangent. While I used the Facebook Messenger app as an example, the point of the article was to start a dialogue around the actual cost of free apps - all apps, not just the Messenger app.

I asked readers if they were like me at the time and blindly accepted permissions settings and terms of use clauses without reading them first. It seems most were.

I challenged everyone to read the small print and decide if they were OK with the cost of free. I've received literally thousands of emails and messages thanking me for raising the issue and received reports that most were now reading these settings and permission requirements and choosing to uninstall or simply not download various apps, including Messenger.

But did they really?

This past week Facebook Messenger became the number one app on iTunes despite the fact that it has received one of the lowest ratings (average 1-star) that any app can earn. Yet everyone is still downloading it just the same. The app has a better rating on Google Play; however, Google uses cumulative ratings (across all versions of an app) to report average ratings. If you take a look at the most recent ratings and comments you'll discover the sentiment is just as poor for the current version of the app on Google Play as it is on iTunes.

So why are people downloading an app that they clearly don't like from a company they don't trust?

It raises the question: Does anyone really care about the level of privacy they give up or the amount of risk they take when granting apps, software, and mobile devices more and more access to our lives, not to mention the access we implicitly grant to our contacts' data?

Does Anyone Really Care About Their Privacy?

Apparently the answer is "no." We need that next hit of social connectivity and we'll pay a pretty hefty - and personal - price for it. The drug/drug dealer analogy s not far fetched. We're addicted to technology and we're prepared to risk just about anything to stay that way, even when deep down we know we're doing something potentially wrong.

I debated the issue of apps and privacy with Robert Scoble and Bryan Kramer on a recent episode of The Social Faceoff. Scoble, who is the Startup Liaison Officer for Rackspace and popular technology evangelist, argued that we're "heading into a new age of context where we're going to be studied deeply by the smoke detector in our home, the car we're driving, the phone we're carrying, and the wearable tech we're wearing." On average, one-third of the audience that attends his presentations state they're worried about this yet they - and he - are still "all in." He argues that there's no middle ground; people understand the fact that if they choose to be all-out instead of all-in, the utility lost from not granting apps and devices access to personal data will make us losers "at the game of life...over and over again."

I am and have been a technology "all-in" person since that fateful day, long, long ago, when I created my first MySpace profile. I waded into the deep end when I migrated from my old Blackberry to my Google-powered Android smart phone. Yet, today, I'm increasingly concerned about the ramifications of blindly diving in and have begun to delete apps, revoke certain permissions, and/or have added additional layers of security software to my mobile devices.

User Privacy Concerns Are Being Dismissed

When I called out the Android-Messenger permissions, many suggested I was pushing people to put on their tin foil hats, referencing the fashion accessory of choice for conspiracy theorists. The point they were trying to make is that I'm being paranoid and that my fears are not based in reality or fact.

The reality is that technology enthusiasts and tech/social firms alike are dismissing the real fears most people have. Most casually acknowledge the risks and complain about them but that doesn't stop them from doing anything about it. That's likely because few think that security breaches will happen to them.

Cyber-criminals are increasingly exploiting social media sites and smart phones to embed themselves and their software into our devices and lives. Once a cybercriminal has managed to gain access to an individual's network of friends and family, he or she can then become friends with others to pilfer their information, according to a study by the University of Buffalo.

The combination of smartphones and social media is indispensable to us yet that dependency also offers fertile ground for hackers. We store so much data in our mobile device and grant it so much access without proper security that we make it surprisingly easy for our data and devices to be used against us.

According to Eva Velasquez, President and CEO at the Identity Theft Resource Center, there are numerous reports describing how "individuals [have] managed to hack into entire cellular provider's networks, just like ones who access the financial information of a major retailer." It's not just losing a phone or having someone hack into the actual device that's a threat. "Phone calls, emails, text messages, and other forms of communication can show up on their radar, providing them with pieces of the puzzle they need in order to steal your identity," or piggy back on the device's permissions for more nefarious activity.

Tech and Social Companies Shirking Their Responsibility

Another way to look at this is to ask what social networks like Facebook and its Messenger app aren't telling us? Currently, Messenger, as an example, requires permission to access our contact database so that, according to Facebook, it can tell us who among our contacts also has the Messenger app. In reality, it doesn't need to scan our phone's contact database to do this. Facebook already knows who we're friends with on Facebook and could easily use that info to allow the app to build an IM directory.

Why else would they want this access? It's quite possible that there is no ulterior motive. All the more reason these companies should explain how they will not use those permissions instead of just stating how they will. In Messenger's case, Facebook should confirm that the app will only use the contact list it scanned to generate a Messenger contact list and that it will not - and cannot - use it for any other purpose. But it doesn't.

When questioned in our debate, Scoble offered, "That's the huge problem as a software engineer, because I have no idea what I'm going to do with that data tomorrow, I really don't." That's exactly the point! They don't know and we don't know.

Software companies cannot predict what their app may need to do in the future and so placing restrictions on how they will access and use our data may affect their ability to develop future features. Fair enough; however, isn't that their responsibility? Should they not be expected to come back and ask us if they may need to use our data in another manner from that which we explicitly agreed to?

We know Facebook and Google (among others) track our usage patterns including who we speak to, when we speak to them, what we're sharing, what we're reading, and where we are every time we do so in order to sell that data to advertisers, which, in term, displays more relevant advertising. Is it a surprise that people are wondering what else they may be tracking and for what purpose? Given Facebook's history of communication missteps and secret experiments, this is not paranoia.

Can We Go Back?

Over-sharing is a national pastime thanks to the cultural and technology revolution that is social and mobile communications. While I'm not suggesting that we turn off all access to the world and burn our phones, corporations supplying the technology that keep us connected - and those who use them - must start paying more attention to the real risks that exist.

At the end of the day however, the onus is on you, not the tech/social companies, to protect yourself. Can we go back? No. We'll continue to rely on mobile devices and we'll increasingly need to share personal data to benefit from their utility. However, we can take better steps to protect ourselves.

More of us need to challenge social networks and app developers by reading permissions settings, terms of service, etc., and where we're not comfortable, we need to stand up and say no. You can install software such as Sophos Mobile Security (for Android), which scans apps for malware before you download them in order to protect your device and data. There is always something that can be done.

The call is yours. Are you at all concerned about your privacy anymore? Are you willing to take the risks associated with being "all-in" in context-based, hyper-connected world? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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